Rail fastening means



Patented Oct. 15,1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,218,156 nan. FASTENING MEANS melma T.scholen, ninsaale, m. Application July 12, 1939, serial No. 284,122

3 claims.

.a rail fastening means of the type mentioned in which the springclip-member is formed not only to be exed into resilient holdingengagement with the rail flange by spike or lag-screw fastening of thesame, but also to serve, following a predetermined amount of exurethereof, as a stop to limit further penetration of the spike orlag-screw or other fastening means, whereby the latter may be driven orturned home Without special regard to the holding force it exerts on thespring clip, and also whereby the spring clip has a predetermined amountof energy stored therein, to exert a predetermined, resilient holdingforce upon the rail, regardless of how tightly the spike or lag-screw isdriven or turned h ome. Thus, expert attention to drivingof the spike orturning of the lag-screw or unit, as the case may be, to assure exertionby the same of adenite amount of force upon the clip-member is notrequired, and all of any given number of the said clip-members, whensecurely fastened, will exert substantially equal holdingforces upon therail.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a rail fasteningmeans of the type mentioned which is thoroughly reliable and highlyefficient in service, and in which the rail retaining clip orclip-member is of exceedingly simple form and embodies a constructionsuch that it may be produced at very low cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved tie plate.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the.

and a pair of the present fastening means for' holding same resilientlyseated upon a tie plate,

the clip-member of one of said fastening means being illustrated in theposition it occupies just prior to lhaving spring energy stored thereinby spike securing of the same. 'and the clip-member of the otherfastening means being illustrated in the position it occupies afterstoring of spring energy therein by spike securing of the same.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the rail holding clip-member of one ofthe rail fastening means.

. l 10 Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating an alternativeembodiment of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a plan view of the Fig. 3 form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, rst with particular reference tothe form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, A designates aportion of a cross tie, B designates the tie plate seated upon the ltopof said cross tie, C designates the base portion of a rail seated uponsaid tie plate between the usual tie-plate shoulders c, c and D, D,designate the new rail fastening means of the present invention.

While a tie plate is illustrated in Fig. 1, the same is not essential tothe use of the present invention. 'On the contrary, in lieu of employinga tie plate between the tie and the rail, the

rail may be seated directly upon the tie. In that event those portionsof the rail fastening means D that cooperate with a tie plate when thesame is used, will cooperate directly with the tie. Moreover, inconnection with any given tie, there may be used only a single one ofthe fastening means D disposed at either side of the rail, or anydesired plurality of said fastening means disposed at either or bothsides of the rail.

Each device or fastening means D, consists simply of a springclip-member lll and a fastener therefor, either in the form of a spikeIl as illustrated in the present instance, or, equivalently, in the formof a lag-screw or other suitable means.

The clip-member I0 may be of any suitable length, width and thicknessand is inherently resilient, being formed and cut, for example, fromspring steel plate or strip. By a rolling or'pressing operation or inany other suitable manner it has imparted to it sinuousundulations, ofthe hill and valley type, which extend transversely thereof, that is tosay, longitudinally with respect to a rail with which it is operatively'associated. From a point near its outer end to a point spaced a suitabledistance inwardly from its outer end the clip-member 1s arched asindicated at I2. Continuing inwardly from its arched portion I2 it isdepressed or curved downwardly of its medial depression, is arched. itsdepressed -and larched portions merging gradually into one another. Inthe normal or unfiexed condition of said clip-member the bottom face ofits medial, depressed portion I3 may be disposed either in or above orbelow a plane including the bottom faces of its inner and outer endportions, but 'if the bottom face of said medial, depressed porl tion I3is disposed below said plane, it should not be disposed so fartherebelow as to contact with the upper face of the tie plate, or thetie,'as the case may be, when the clip-member is disposed on a slope orcanted, as illustrated in Fig. 1, with its inner end portion or lipseated upon the upper face of the rail flange and its outer -end portionseated upon the tie plate, or the tie, as the case may be, at a pointoutwardly of the outer' edge of the rail ilang'e. In other words, in thenormal, unexed condition of the clip-member I0, the bottom face of itsintermediate depressed portion I3 is spaced above the upper face of thetie plate. or the tie, as-the case may be, when said clip-member ispositioned on a slope or canted, as stated. This phase of the invention,that is, the spacing of the clip in its normal uniiexed condition abovethe face of' the tie plate, refers to what has been previously termed aprede mined amount of tlexure in the clip. In further explanation ofthis important partV of the invention it is to be noted that the springclip must be so proportioned that, after taking into account its length,Width, thickness, the physical properties of the steel of which it ismade, section modulus, moment of inertia, modulus of elasticty, etc.,the clearance between the clip and the ti'e plate at the centerofilexure of the clip must be .such an amount that when the fasteningmeans is driven home and the intermediate portion of the clip comes insolid contact with-the tie plate, there results a certain definitepredetermined. spring pressure on the rail flange. Therefore, incarrying out the main object of the invention of providing rail clipsfor track having predetermined spring holding pressure upon the rail anecessary and contributing factor is that of the predetermined clearancein the unexed condition of the clip between the clip and the tie plateso that the clip has a definite iiexure of definite extent of movementIfrom its unilexed condition to its point of contact with its stopelement, namely, the tie plate. ,a

Formed partly through the hill `or arch I2, and the medial, depressedportion I3 of the clipmember I0 is a hole I5 to accommodate the shank ofeither a spike II or a lag-screw. In order to obtain the resultsindicated andto provide for a cantilever action the spike hole is sodisposed in the said depressed stop portion I3 of the clip that thecenter of flexure is at the point where, the spike is applied andtherefore practically is in the plane of the vertical center of thespike, and the most practical results have been obtained by having thesaid spike hole arranged eccentric in the plate, that is, to one side ofthe transverse center of the plate and nearer to the outer end of theplate than toward the inner edge of the plate which overlies and engagesthe rail flange. Whether a spike or a lag-screw is used to fasten theclip-member III to the tie, it is apparent that, due to the bottom faceof the medial. depressed portion I3 of the clip-member being spacedabove the upper face of the -tie plate or tie, as the case may be.driving home of the spike or turning home of the lag-screw or nut, willresult in downward ilexure of the medial portion of the clip-member. Itwill be equally apparent that downward ilexure of. the medial portion ofl the clip-member will result in the storing of spring energy in theclip-member tending to urge its end portions downwardly. Consequently,the inner end portion or lip of the clip-member will exert a resilient'holding force downwardly upon the rail flange.

The clip-member Il can be flexed downwardly only until the bottom faceof its intermediate portion I3 contacts with the vupper face of the tieplate or tie as the case may be, and when the clip-member. has beenflexed this amount or distance its said portion I3 acts as a stop tolimit further penetration of the spike or lag-screw, as is evident frm'the illustration at the right hand side of Fig. 1. In this operationthe outer arch or hill of the clip-member attens and in so doingincreases the downward spring pressure of the inner end or lip on therail flange. Consequently, expert attention to driving of the spike orturning of the lag-screw or nut is notrequired. On the contrary, thespike, or lag-screw, or nut, as the case may be, simply is driven orturned until it is tight, which results when the portion I3 of theclip-member I0 has been depressed, against the resistance of the outerarch or hill I2, into engagement with the top face of the tie plate ortie, as the case may be. Therefore, it will be observed that with theeccentric arrangement of spike hole, as shown and described, whichdisposes the center of flexure at the point where the spike is applied,the major part of the spring action involved is provided for by thatpart of the spring clip plate between the inner edge of the-spike holeand the outer edge of the plate.

The dimensions and resiliency of the clip member I0 may be predeterminedso that when it is disposed in operative relationship to a rail and itsmedialportion is depressed into solid engagement with the tie plate, ortie, its inner end portion or lip exerts -a predetermined spring holdingforce downwardly upon the rail flange. Thus, all of any given number ofthe clip-members Il, when operatively applied, will exert substantiallyequal holding forces upon the rail, which is highly desirable.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, it will be observed thatthe combination of parts is the same as in the form of the inventionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, but that, instead oi.' ordi-- nary spikesor lag-screws being employed as fastening means for the resilientclip-members, designated as I0, ribbed holding studs Il, preferably of aspiraliy twisted or threaded type, are driven or threaded into holes inthe tie and have 'threaded upper end portions IIh which extend throughthe fastener holes in the clip-members I0 and have threaded thereon,above said plates of fastener or spike holes bA in the tie plate B' inAaddition to the holes in the clip-members that accomodate the studs IIB.There may be any desired number of the fastener or spike holes b locatedwherever desired, but preferably said holes are located near theouter.ends of the tie plate to either side of the longitudinal center'instance where additional fastenings for the tie plates are needed ordesired, as; for instance in curved sections of track, additional spikesmay be driven through any or all of the holes b.

'I'he old-fashioned cut spike of square cross section, chisel point andlarge head was designed to be driven into a tie and to have its head-bear on the rail flange to hold the rail against the tie, or againstthe tie plate, as the case might be. However, with the advent of railclips, there no longer is any necessity for the use of chisel-point,square-shank, large head spikes, which inherently arel disadvantageousfor variousreasons, principal among which may be mentioned their highproduction cost as compared with round-shank spikes or nails and theirtendency to badly split and spike-kill ties. Small round-shank spikeshave more holding power per pound of metal, are cheaper and easier tomanufacture and comparatively have little tendency to split orspike-kill ties. Accordingly, the holes b are, as aforesaid,

preferably round to accommodate any desired number of round-shank spikeswithin practicable llimits as holding means for the tie plates inaddition to the fasteners for the rail clips in any instance Whereadditional fasteners for the tie plates are desired.

In locating the spike holes b adjacent to the outer ends of the tieplate, advantage is taken oi' the space along the end margins of the tieplate where its bearing value on the tie is quite low because of thetendencyof the plate to curl up under load. Moreover, providing theholes b in the tie plate near the ends of the latter efl'ects a savingin metal where the removed metal, if

not removed, would have little or no value and has the further advantagethat it tends to prevent sliding of the tie plate on the tie even ininstances where additional spikes, driven through said-holes, are'notemployed; A small area has more bearing power per square inch than alarger area. Because of the holes b the tie plate B', has a lesserbearing upon the tie than a tie plate of equal length and width devoidof holes such as the holes b. Consequently, the plate B' has morebearing power per square inch upon the tie than an ordinary tie plate.As a result the tie is compressed around the areas underlying the holesb and in line with said holes the woodof the tie more or less enterssaid holes, thus locking the tie plate against sliding relative to thetie. To a lesser extent the same action occurs at the margins of the tieplate.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes .in

the form, proportion and minor vdetails of construction may be resortedto, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Rail holding means comprising in combinay y tion with a rail and itssupport, aresilient spring clip and fastening means cooperatingbetweensaid spring clip and the said rail support Whereby said spring clipissecurely held to said rail support, the spring clip having inner andouter flexing end portions which contact, in working position,respectively with the rail ange land with therail support, and alsohaving at the. point of application of the said fastening means anintermediate flexing portion forming at its underside a stop elementadapted, upon downward application 'of said fastening means, to besupport whereby the spring clip will thereupon exert a predeterminedamount of downward spring pressure upon the rail flange, and also uponthe rail support.

2, Rail holding means comprising in combination with a rail and itssupport, a resilient spring clip and a fastener therefor, the saidspringc lip formed of a single plate of spring metal and having a exible innerend portion overlying and engaging the rail flange, an outer flexibleouter end portion overlying the rail support, and a exible intermediateportion, between said flexible inner and outer portions, constitutingthe center of exure of the clip and which in its unilexed and unstressedcondition has a predetermined clearance from the rail support, the saidcenter of iiexure of the clip being substantially coincident withthe'center of the point of application of the fastening means wherebyupon downward application of said fastener and the downward flexing ofthe intermediate portion of the clip until it comes to a full stop onsaid rail support the spring clip thereupon exerts a predeterminedamount of downward spring pressure upon the rail flange and upon therail support. v

`3. Rail holding means comprising in combina-v tion with a rail and itssupport, a resilient spring lclip and a fastening spike therefor, thesaid to receive the fastening spike and constituting the center offiexure of the clip and which in its unfiexed and unstressed conditionhas a predetermined clearance from the rail support', the said center ofiiexure of the-clip being substantially coincident with the center ofthe point of application of the fastening spike whereby upon downwardapplication of said fastening spike and the downward flexing of theintermediate portion of the clip until it comes to a full stopon saidrail support the spring clip thereupon exerts a predetermined amount ofdownward; spring pressure 'upon the rail ange and upon the rail support.

RICHARD T. SCHOLES.

2o moved into a full stop engagement with the rail

